No more yielding but a dream
by animalkingdom13
Summary: One year ago Maya was offered a business deal that would change her life, now she is haunted by scars and secrets which will last forever. When she is apporached with a new job offer, will she be able to deal with all of her old demons? SPOILERS Arthur/OC
1. Chapter 1

_italics= thoughts_

Disclaimer: I do not own the concepts of inception and extraction, Cobalt Industries, or any characters from Inception. I do own Maya, Mr. Morris and any other original characters. I do not own the story line of Inception either.

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"You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you, Peter Pan. That's where I'll be waiting"

-Tinkerbelle (Hook)

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When I was a little girl I used to read bed-time stories to myself. Hoping they could take me to another world. A world where anything could happen, where dreams could come true. And they did. At night when I went to sleep I would be there with the characters from my books. I would be at the ball with Cinderella, or falling down the rabbit whole with Alice. As I got older I discovered new worlds, more intense worlds. Around 12 I began learning about magic with Harry Potter, and at 15 I was fighting side by side with Legolas and Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. Eventually though, even the infinite worlds that books could offer would not fill my dreams. I grew bored with same characters and story lines that I visited and inserted myself into countless times. Once I had reached that point I began to create my own worlds. They started simply, as most ideas do, but after time I could imagine cities and countries, with familiar faces and new ones popping up all the time. That new and growing world got me through those hard teen years, but soon enough even my world was no longer an escape from the everyday life I had worked so hard to extract myself from. I found myself wondering what other people were dreaming, and toying around with the idea of entering the dreams of others. I did achieve what I began to call "invasion" and once that was perfected began trying to take information from my subjects, "extraction". I was becoming quite good at extraction but unfortunately, life got in the way of these….experiments, and the 6 years that I spent working on invasion and extraction, beginning creating a new on a concept called "inception" were locked away in a steal vault. I thought that I would lead a normal life from then on, all my dreaming left behind. It wasn't until 2 years later that I was "approached" by a company called Cobalt that I realized I wasn't the only one who knew about lucid dreaming.

**One year ago**

"Ms. Green, you have a call on line two" the intercom on my conference phone blared at me. Pushing the button to speak back to my assistant Amanda I told her thank you. "Hello Ms. Green speaking."

"Hello Ms. Green. My name is Benjamin Morris, and I work for Cobalt Industries. A colleague of mine had mentioned that Burns and Myers was looking to merge with an up and coming corporation, and Cobalt Industries happens to be very interested."

The man's voice was quite deep and he had an interesting accent, one I couldn't put my finger on. But what I thought was odd, is that Roger, my boss, hadn't mentioned anything about a merger to me. In fact last time we spoke he seemed almost adamant that the company stand on its own two feet now that we were beginning to be successful.

"Really? Well that is interesting Mr. Morris. I wasn't aware about a new merger in the works. May I ask who you heard it from?"

"Oh just someone within the company, but I confirmed it with your boss Roger Leachman. You can give him a call if you like?"

_Well I suppose if he confirmed it with Roger it must be alright. I'll be sure to check my e-mails later, it was probably a last minute thing._

"Oh no that's alright. I'm sure I just missed the e-mail. So how far along in the process are you with us?"

"Not very far, the offer came so quickly that I really didn't get a chance to look at most of the statistics. I was hoping we could set up a meeting, oh sometime this week, to go over the introductory details."

Pulling up my schedule for this week on my computer I saw that I had Thursday evening free, and relayed the information to Mr. Morris.

"Thursday evening sounds perfect. I'll make reservations at the St. Regis for 6:30 then."

_The St. Regis. Fancy. _"That sounds wonderful Mr. Morris. I will see you Thursday at 6:30 then. Thank you very much."

"Thank you Ms. Green. I look forward to our meeting." And with that he hung up.

It was now Thursday afternoon, and I was preparing myself for my meeting with Mr. Morris. I had created a file covering all of the basics about Burns and Myers, one of the new law firms that had sprung up. I had been working for them for about two and a half years, and the income was good. I wasn't a lawyer, and all I did was meet with potential assets to the company and try to reel them in. I suppose you could call me the salesman of the company.

I wore a simple light gray business suit, with a knee length skirt and a teal satin shirt. It was classy and professional, with an edgy twist. Perfect. My straight dark brown hair I decided to leave down, as it was more casual that way, and I didn't want a potential client and business partner to think that Burns and Myers was a stuck up, uptight company. First impressions always count, no matter what people say.

I had done my research about Cobalt Industries over the past two days, but couldn't find specifics about the kind of work they did. I found it odd at first, but then realized that Mr. Morris had said that Cobalt was a relatively new company, so didn't dwell on the fact. Cobalt was apparently a scientific development and experimentation company, what they were developing and experimenting with was the specifics I could not find.

I sat in the cab which was taking me from my apartment in SOHO to the St. Regis and checked over the file again, ran through my presentation again. I needed to get this deal, if I did, depending on the commission, I would have enough money saved up to quit and go back to my research. If I didn't then I don't know how much longer I was going to be stuck in Burns and Myers. The work was good, but it wasn't where I wanted to be. What I wanted to do was continue with what I had started with, master the art which would be "inception".

The ride to the St. Regis was only about thirteen minutes, and I arrived earlier than Mr. Morris. I decided that maybe ordering alcohol before making my presentation wouldn't be the best idea, so I ordered a club soda. I kept running through my presentation over and over again in my head trying to memorize every detail that needed to be relayed in order to close this deal quickly, but after going over this information for about then minutes, my thoughts began to drift. They went back to thoughts of how I wound up here at this point in my life. And by that point I seriously considered getting an actual drink. My childhood was not one filled with love and warmth. But everyone has a past, and you can't change who you have been, you can only control where you are going.

20 minutes and another club soda later, I began thinking how unprofessional this was. Mr. Morris had called a meeting with me, and was now almost half an hour late. At that point I began to consider leaving. After all, why would a business want to associate themselves with a company whose employee can't even be on time for a simple introductory meeting? _Five more minutes then I leave. _

I had just lift my glass up to my lips to take another sip of soda, when from behind a deep voice questioned, "Ms. Green?" Turning in my seat I looked upon who I assumed was Mr. Morris. He was a tall dark skinned man, wearing an expensive navy blue business suite. He carried a black leather suit case, and on his wrist was a shiny new Rolex watch. He was older, probably in his mid to late forties, with had a clean shaven head and his dark brown eyes were hidden under heavy, slightly graying eyebrows. Signs of ageing marked his face with small wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and making their way across his forehead.

"Mr. Morris, it's a pleasure to meet you." I stood up from my chair and held my. I noticed as he accepted the gesture, that his hands were quite soft. "Please let's sit down."

I retook to my previous position in my chair while he took the one across from me. "Pleasure to meet you as well. I hope I haven't kept you waiting long. My boss wanted wished to speak to me before I left and it took longer than I anticipated." He said to me.

"No not long at all, thank you for asking. I thought we could go right into the basics of the company and at the end you could voice any concerns or ask any questions you had. Is that alright?" As I asked this I began reaching for my briefcase, which contained my well rehearsed presentation.

"That sounds fine Ms. Green. Perfectly fine." He flagged down a waitress and ordered a scotch straight up, and asked if I wanted anything besides club soda. I decided that I had waited long enough for alcohol, and ordered a glass of white wine. After all I didn't want to get out of control when I was trying to do a business deal.

I went through my presentation quickly enough, pausing at moments to gauge Morris' reaction. It was unfortunately hard to read him though, and whenever I paused he simply nodded that he understood and motioned for me to go on. When I was through, I was quite surprised that he had not interrupted once; usually there were quite a few interruptions. "So what do you think Mr. Morris?"

He was quiet for a moment, and nodded his head one more time before speaking. "You are quite the saleswoman Ms. Green. Your reputation precedes you."

"I wasn't aware that I had a reputation. But thank you." I sipped my second glass of wine.

"Yes, quite the reputation." He said nodding his head again. "I must admit if I was indeed looking to merge with Burns and Myers, I would do so as soon as I got into the office tomorrow morning."

I admit that surprised me. "I'm sorry Mr. Morris I must have heard you wrong. Did you just imply that you have no interest to merge Cobalt with Burns and Myers?"

He lifted his third scotch and took a sip. "No Ms. Green you heard me quite correct. My boss has no interest in merging with Burns and Myers. But he is interested in merging your skills with the work being done at Cobalt." He swirled the scotch in his glass before taking another sip. "Tell me, Ms. Green, how much information were you able to find about Cobalt?"

"Not much. Only general facts and statistics. What did you mean my skills?" I was getting suspicious and somewhat uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

"How far were you able to get Ms. Green?"

"Get? Get where…with what?"

"How far were you able to get with inception?"

My heart stopped for a moment, and then sped up so fast I was sure that he could hear it fluttering within my chest. How could he know of inception? It's impossible. No one else even knew about "invasion". "I don't believe I have any idea about what you are talking about, Mr. Morris. But if you aren't interested in my company then I believe it is time for me to leave." My voice was shaking and my palms were starting to sweat.

He continued on as if I hadn't said anything, "My boss has an interesting offer for you. If you would be willing to listen to it."

"I'm sorry but I really don't know what you are talking about." I began to rise from my seat and reach for my briefcase. "It was nice to meet you though Mr. Morris. Have a nice night"

And as I began to quickly, and hopefully what appeared calmly, walk away he called out from behind me, "What if I told you that it was possible to have two levels? Or three? Would you consider the offer then?"

I had to stop. It was like I had no control over my legs, and as much as I wanted to move forward I simply couldn't. Two levels was impossible, three was unthinkable. I turned around and told him this. All he did was chuckle, as if a child had just said something amusing, before gesturing towards my empty chair.

Retaking my seat I decided to listen to this seemingly insane, yet intriguing offer. "I'm listening"

He leaned forward and began to explain his proposition. "What if I told you that everything you once worked on has been enhanced? What if I told you that you are the only person who can remotely perform inception? And what if I told you that Cobalt Industries is willing to permit you to do as much research and experimentation with lucid dreaming as you want, all for one simple service?"

I narrowed my eyes, not knowing if I wanted to know the answer to my next question.

"Which would be?"

"Teach inception to our extractors." And he leaned back in his chair, finishing off his scotch.

My breath had caught in my throat and I brought my hand to my head to brush back the hair which had fallen in my face, before releasing an amazed sigh. This was my chance. Probably my only chance to return to doing what I love. Could I really say no?

I realized then that there was a single flaw that could destroy the entire opportunity. The nervousness I felt that my one chance could slip by was blatant in my voice, "Inception isn't taught. It has to be learned through experience. It was an accident that I stumbled upon it. I'm not sure how to teach it."

"Well I suggest you figure out a way to make it teachable. Because if you can't hold up your end of the agreement, then you will leave us no choice."

"No choice? What do you mean no choice?"

"Cobalt is a very exclusive company, as you found out through your research. Anyone who leaves Cobalt can simply no longer be trusted."

This was a big decision and I knew it, but I felt as though I had already made up my mind. "How long would I have?"

"Two years. Cobalt Industries is located in Mombasa Kenya, relocation would be required. Any other questions?"

I nodded my head, "Just one," then looked him the eyes, "When do I leave?"

Mr. Morris smirked and held out his hand, which I did not hesitate to accept. "Welcome to Cobalt Industries Maya."

I didn't even ask how he knew my name, for it seemed the little information I found about Cobalt Industries, they had found immeasurable amounts on me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the concepts of inception and extraction, Cobalt Industries, or any characters from Inception. I do own Maya, Mr. Morris and any other original characters. I do not own the story line of Inception either.**

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I opened my eyes, blinked and looked around the small wooden room. I turned my head towards the window to my left, about three feet from the end of the old bed I lay on. It was snowing again. Turning my head back towards the ceiling I sighed, and reached my right hand over towards my left wrist to remove the IV that I had previously inserted into it.

I removed the needle slowly feeling the plastic slide out from beneath my skin and placed the IV on the small table by my bedside, which held only a few items. I sat up and rubbed my wrist before swinging my legs over to the side of the bed. I just sat there for a while not really thinking about anything, just sitting. That girl from my dream seemed so far off now; she was so happy and naïve. So content to trust. It sickened me to a point. How could I have been so foolish? I dropped my head and sighed again.

My feet were just barely touching the dirty wood floor, and I swung my legs back and forth so they would disappear under the bed and reappear in front of me. I must have continued doing this for a good five minutes before chuckling at myself for acting so childish and planted my feet on the floor. It was quite cold as I expected.

I walked over to the window and pulled back the ratted curtain to watch the snow fall softly upon the village houses and few people that had ventured out to get wood or some food. It was still early which explained why there weren't more children out yet. I really did like the snow, so I'm glad I got here. It fit me nicely, and the people were very nice and accommodating. I wasn't sure how long exactly I had been here, but I estimated it to be around three or four months.

I stretched my arms above my head before heading back towards the foot of my bed where my trunk rested. The trunk itself came from the villagers as a welcoming gift, when I had decided to stay. I had only come with two small bags so the trunk was still relatively empty, even with some dresses the local women had given me for things I had helped them with in their homes.

After I had stripped out of the only nightgown that I had with me I picked out some jeans and a long sleeved shirt to wear for that day. I walked over to my "bathroom", which was really a hole in the ground, a basin for water and a cracked old mirror. After fully changed, I splashed some water on my face and whipped it off with my towel. Wash day was tomorrow, so I would have to gather all the clothing I wanted washed so I could walk down to the spring with the other women.

I returned my towel to its place and looked at myself in the mirror. My brown hair was very long by now, but it was hard to tell the exact length for it was also quite matted. _Maybe I should just cut it?_ I wondered as I touched the ends of it.

Leaning in closer to the mirror, I noticed circles under my eyes which hadn't been there a year ago, making the areas of light brown skin look three shades darker than they normally were. And though I did not look old I could certainly see my twenty-nine years displayed on my face. In truth I was disgusted with myself. Not because of how I looked, but for the person I saw inside. I was disgusted with things I had done, things I had witnessed, with the fact that I couldn't see that these things were horrible while I was doing them, disgusted at my ignorance. I was scared, branded by my past. My once bright brown eyes were now dull and dead. I was a shadow of the woman I used to be, and I did nothing about it. I deserved it.

I turned away from the mirror, no longer able to confront myself. I left the bathroom and re-entered my bedroom, picking up my nightgown from where it laid on the ground. I then left the room in favor of another; last room in my small home, a kitchen and living area. The kitchen was equipped with a small stove that the previous owner of the house, an old man who had lived here with his wife before they both passed away, had somehow acquired and a small amount of assorted dishes. There were only two windows in the room, one behind the small feather stuffed couch, and the other directly opposite the counter with a basin for water to wash dishes. I had put that in myself, for some old habits like always washing my dishes after I used them, were ingrained into me so deep to try and undo them would be pointless.

In front the another window was a small table with two chairs, all hand carved by the previous owner, and on top of it was a small radio I had gotten before I arrived here. At night when it was cold the stove and a small stone fireplace in my bedroom kept me warm. Other than another low table placed in front of the couch that is all I had in my home. Dried spices and flowers hung from the few ceiling rafters; I'm not sure how old they were, but they gave the drab house a sort of charm

I wasn't very hungry yet so I decided to go for a quick walk to look at how beautiful the scenery was. I grabbed the jacket which I had gotten as a gift not too long ago from one of the villagers, before heading out into the slowly falling snow. There was hardly anyone out now, and a lot of the women who were out earlier had probably hurried back home to begin preparing breakfast.

I walked leisurely, being careful not to slip on the frozen rock beneath my feet. The fresh mountain air was nice, and the silence always gave one plenty of room to think. The village was quite small only about 15 homes and maybe 40 people or so, and everybody knew everybody else. I suppose that was nice, but every once in a while you hope for a new person to wander through and hear what life was like in the real world. The village maintained its original charm and traditions, and in hundreds and hundreds of years life has remained the same. If you were born in the village you stayed in the village, I think I once heard that only five people have ever left, and those just passing through receive a warm welcome even if they do not stay. It was nice to live around such caring people, to hear their stories, and watch their traditions.

I came to the edge of the cliff where the village was located and looked out. Greeted with the silhouettes of mountains of varying heights curtained behind the blowing snow, I realized that my home was quite picturesque. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. Images flashed across my mind, as they usually do when I close my eyes without the aid of the amobarbital.

_A man's face contorted in pain. Yelling. The dream. Trying to wake up. Packing. __Gun shots. Pain. _

Memories. That is one of the reasons I love to dream. You can change a dream, escape it. But with memories you can never change them. You can't run from them, merely suppress them. I opened my eyes, stared at the mountains, and turned around to head back to my home. I was hungry now.

The night had come and the wind had picked up more. The once sweetly falling snow was now a whirlwind. I had the fireplace in my bedroom lit, and my supper was on the stove. But even with the combined heat I was still dressed in my coat with three shirts on, and my mittens engulfed my hands. What little electrical lighting I had in my home was flickering so badly that I had half a mind to turn it off. But I didn't, for if I did the only light that I would have would be coming from my fire place and my home would be far too dark. It was strange to hear the wind slamming against the wooden walls, and hearing them creak violently. The one sound though that was not like the rest, was a knocking sound. I couldn't be sure but it sure as hell sounded like someone was pounding on my door.

I rose from my table, where I had been fiddling with my radio tying to get a signal, and pulled my coat further around myself before heading towards the door. The door itself I was forced to wrench open due to the blowing winds, but once I did I was greeted with a sight that I did not expect.

Outside was one of the village women. Huddled in her parka, she shivered against the gusts of wind which assaulted the mountain side. In her hand she carried a small lamp, one of the few battery operated items in the village.

She simply motioned for me to follow her, so of course I did. After all there was no reason for me to refuse, and I really had nothing better to do with my time.

We slowly made our way against the winds, to the small meeting house. It was about the size of the other houses, maybe only slightly bigger. The wood from which it was built was intricately carved in beautiful, yet faded, patterns of flowers and swirls. The door was heavy, and its frame showed the remnants of writings from when the building was built. They were protection "spells", which is the best translation I can come up with from what the locals call them. When the woman opened them they made a loud, heavy creaking sound.

It was warm inside; a large fire pit in the middle of the room heated the entire building. It looked like the village elders had gathered for some reason, but what this had to do with me I really had no clue.

I walked further into the room, and noticed what was so unusual. There were two figures there and the woman, who was still in front of me, motioned for me to sit; directly infront of these "visitors". One was a younger man, looking to be in his mid-twenties. The other though had the hood up on their parka, so I could not distinguish if they were male or female.

"Hello." the young man said. _So he's American. _

"Hello." I replied. I didn't find it strange that I was having a normal conversation with a stranger. Nothing really surprised me anymore.

"You are quite the hard person to find Ms. Green, and I must admit Nepal was not on the top of my list of places to search."

"I've learned that going off the grid is best for those who wish to disappear" Sarcasm really was a wonderful thing.

He smirked, "My name is Arthur Reed. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," I nodded to his partner, "Who's your friend?"

"Just a tagalong. No one important." Arthur explained. I looked over at the figure who had yet to say anything. They were wearing a dark blue parka, heavy snow pants, and thick hiking boots. Appropriate attire for the environment in my opinion.

"What can I do for you Mr. Reed?" I asked returning my attention to him.

"Arthur, please." He corrected.

"What can I do for you Arthur?"

He took a deep breath before he began to speak. "My business partner and I have recently received a job. One that would require special skills. Skills which reliable sources say you possess, if you would be so willing."

I didn't care who the reliable sources were. This speech sounded all too familiar, "Mr. Reed…"

"Arthur." He interrupted.

"…Arthur. The last time I heard this pitch I ruined my life with a simple handshake… I know what you're looking for. But I refuse to give that to anyone ever again. I'm sorry that you wasted your time looking for me, but I think you should find someone else." There was really nothing more I had to say on the matter. I know what I had done, as much as I wanted to forget it, and I would never be able to escape. And I would never help anyone with lucid dreaming again.

"How can you still blame yourself?" _That voice. I know that voice. _It came from the figure in the parka, who was now identifiable as male.

My face grew cold and my voice dropped to just above a whisper, "What are you doing here? You know better than anyone why I won't help. So, why did you waste your time?" I had to know what on heaven and earth was he thinking?

"How can you?"He persisted.

"How can I not? After all that has happened how can you still ask me that?" I paused, "Now answer me. Why are you here?"

He didn't lift the hood on his jacket, but at this point he didn't need to. "You're the best at what you do Maya. I need you."

"Don't ask that of me Cobb."

He looked up, and I could finally see his face. It had only been a year, but he looked like he had aged ten. "Please. This is my ticket home. Your ticket home….I want to see my children again. Please Maya." He was begging.

"Who says I want to go home?" It was a lie. I desperately wanted to go home, see what had become of the world I once knew. But I wouldn't go to those measures to get there.

"Your eyes. You've never been good at lying." He was right of course, and I was slowly giving in.

I bowed my head so they couldn't see my face. The offer was so tempting, because I did miss it to some extent. The thrill of it. But how could I, with all the terrible things that had happened. Yet still, with all the pain that it had caused me….caused everyone involved; part of me still yearned for the freedom, the control that only invasion, extraction, and inception could provide.

"You can't run from your past. Believe me I've tried."Dom paused. He put his hand on top of mine, which rested on my knee. I looked up. "After this, I promise you…you will never have to run again."

I shook my head and could feel tears begin to burn at the back of my eyes. _Empty promises._ "How can you promise that?"

He didn't answer, just looked into my eyes. Dom had this way of communicating without words, it was fascinating. With just one look I could believe him. With just one look I knew that everything would work out after this job.

"Okay."I nodded, "But there is one condition."I stated. Dom nodded, and I smirked. "We get Eames."

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I'm sorry it took so long to update. I know it's a bad excuse but I seriously had writers block. This chapter is ok, but I promise there will be more action and less description in later chapters. Thanks for still reading ^_^!


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